Districts of Innovation, as created by House Bill 1842, represents the next step in public school flexibility. The new law encourages districts and charters to collaborate across multiple campuses and with institutions of higher education pursuant to a locally developed plan.

About

Raise Your Hand Texas focuses on identifying breakthrough ideas to improve education, piloting them in our public schools and supporting the conditions and public policies that allow them to scale to reach all Texas students.

We are unique among education organizations because of the investments we make spanning research, programs, and advocacy in pursuit of a high-quality public education for every single Texas student.

How we are reinventing public education:

Our programs and grants help develop highly effective public school leaders and drive innovation in schools. We share meaningful stories of leaders and issues influencing Texas public education, while also providing essential research to inform the public and policymakers about key legislation shaping the future of Texas students.

The status quo is
not good enough.

The Texas identity has always been defined by lofty ideals and a never-ending pursuit of greater opportunity and prosperity for our citizens. Yet, the rapidly changing demographics of our student population and the increasingly competitive environment beyond the classroom create profound challenges for our schools, and our state.

While American schools have made incremental improvements in student achievement over the last few decades, other countries have experienced exponential gains. For too long, Texas and the United States have languished in the middle of the rankings. This has very real implications for our state’s business economy and our global competitiveness.

It is undeniable that Texas’ economic future will be determined by the success of our public schools. For this reason, Texas citizens and the officials they elect should support the public school system and its capacity for progress.

What Makes our Approach Different

We believe our best chance at success is improving the only system with the capacity for educating our 5+ million Texas students. In reforming public education, decisions about our schools should be made as close to the students as possible by school boards, parents, and taxpayers who have students’ long-term success at heart. Tax dollars should not be removed from the transparent public school system or benefit any organization that isn’t held to the same level of public accountability and accessibility as our public schools.

The Future of Texas is in our Public Schools.

Improving public schools takes all of us. If you’re ready to get engaged, join us to help strengthen and improve public schools for all Texas students.

Raise Your Hand is 100 percent privately funded, so we will never ask you for a donation. But we do need your support!